Useful Bible Studies > 1 Kings Commentary > chapter 22
Until this incident, the Bible does not mention Micaiah by name. He may have been one of the prophets (holy men) whose life Obadiah saved (18:4). Possibly he was the same prophet who declared God’s judgment against Ahab in 1 Kings 20:35-43. He was a genuine prophet of the true God, and Ahab knew him well. In particular, Ahab was aware of the nature of Micaiah’s messages from God. Those messages always seemed to be against Ahab. Clearly therefore, Micaiah was not like those prophets who declared their messages for money, or to please powerful people.
In fact, it seems that Ahab had already sent Micaiah to prison for his messages. In 1 Kings 22:26-27, Ahab will send him ‘back’ to the officials who were in charge of the prison.
In Ahab’s beliefs, good words would bring good results, and bad words would bring bad results. Especially, he considered that to be true about people with power in the spirit world. He tried to surround himself, therefore, with prophets who would approve of his plans. If any prophet opposed his plans, that would cause trouble, in Ahab’s opinion. Therefore, Ahab hated a prophet like Micaiah.
However, God’s standard for his prophets is the truth. A prophet has a serious duty to declare truthfully what God has spoken to him (Deuteronomy 18:18-22).
Probably, it was not an easy matter for Jehoshaphat to persuade Ahab to call for Micaiah. However, if Micaiah was in prison, of course, Ahab would know where to find him.
Next part: Ahab's prophets declare messages from the spirit world (1 Kings 22:10-12)
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